The pilgrims crawled forward, some barely inching along the rough ground with hands, knees and elbows rubbed raw. The procession of St. Lazarus is one of the largest yearly religious processions in officially secular Cuba and also one of the most colorful. To show their devotion, thousands of Cubans walk for miles barefoot to the small church known as El ...
President Vladimir Putin declined to say when Russian forces would retake the southern Kursk region from Ukraine, insisting that they were making advances “along the entire frontline,” as he began his year-end news conference. The Moscow event on Thursday consists of a public Q&A session combined with a public phone-in, which Putin stages annually to show his sweeping control of ...
Ethiopia and Kenya both embrace renewables for their electricity production. Ethiopia produces all the power for its national grid from renewable sources, and is home to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the largest hydropower plant in Africa. In Kenya, renewables account for around 90% of electricity, and the country boasts one of the largest geothermal facilities in the world, in ...
French President Emmanuel Macron has landed on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, days after the French overseas territory was hit by a devastating cyclone. At least 31 people have been confirmed dead so far, but local officials fear the complete toll could be much higher, reaching hundreds or even thousands. Many parts of Mayotte remain inaccessible after Cyclone Chido ...
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have shared a rare photo of their children on their Christmas card this year. Released on Monday, the card features a collage of images taken throughout the year. In one casual family photo, Harry and Meghan crouch down with their arms outstretched while Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, run towards them, ...
The world’s oceans are under threat from rising sea temperatures, marine pollution and overfishing. The effects are visible in shallow ecosystems suffering from coral bleaching, but less is known about the impact on deeper areas of the ocean such as the mesophotic or “twilight” zone, which lies between 30 and 150 meters (100 and 490 feet) below the surface. This ...
The father and stepmother of a severely abused 10-year-old girl found dead in her home in England were sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for murder. Urfan Sharif, 42, and Beinash Batool, 30, were convicted of the murder of Sara Sharif last week in what prosecutors called a “campaign of abuse.” The girl’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was found guilty ...
Hamas has become the latest party to the Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations to voice optimism about the prospects of reaching a deal, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region. In an official statement on Tuesday, Hamas said reaching an agreement was “possible.” A Hamas source also added that the talks were “positive and optimistic.” Top US, Israeli, ...
Syrians are starting to uncover mass graves across the country, shedding light on the magnitude of atrocities committed during the brutal rule of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. More than two weeks after Assad fled Syria and his regime collapsed, scores of Syrian families still have no answer about what happened to their loved ones following their detention by Assad’s secret ...
China says two of its astronauts completed a nine-hour spacewalk Tuesday, a figure that beats the US-held record for the world’s longest spacewalk set in 2001, in the latest milestone in the country’s ambitious space program. Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, crew members of the Shenzhou-19 spaceflight, wrapped the nine-hour extravehicular activity, better known as a spacewalk, just before 10 ...